Obituary: James A. E. Spencer

**James A. E. Spencer, 90, longtime Maine resident and dedicated community servant, dies** Arrowsic Island, Maine – James Alexander Erskine Spencer, a longtime Arrowsic Island resident and former president of the Friends of Doubling Point Light, died at his home on July 13, 2026. Spencer, 90, left a legacy of service in medicine, historic preservation, and civic engagement. Born in Manhattan on February 8, 1936, Spencer grew up in Oxford, Ohio, where his parents, Margaret Erskine Nicolson and Willard Wylie Spencer, taught at Miami University. He attended Phillips Academy before earning a mathematics degree from Yale College in 1958. A deep admiration for his aunt, New York cardiologist Gertrude Nicolson, led him to pursue medicine. He graduated from Yale School of Medicine in 1961. After completing his training, Spencer met Joyce Edith Geiger, a teacher from her hometown, on a blind date set up by a friend. He later recalled, “It was the luckiest phone call I ever made.” The couple married on June 15, 1963, and moved to New York where they began a 63‑year partnership that spanned careers, family, and adventures. Spencer began his medical career as a surgical resident but switched to pathology, describing it as “constant puzzle‑solving, and no two days were alike.” During the Vietnam era he served as the pathologist and director of laboratories at the U.S. Naval Submarine Medical Center in Groton, Connecticut, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. After six years of naval service he returned to Connecticut to work at Greenwich Hospital, where he spent the majority of his professional life. The Spencers made their home in Greenwich for 36 years, where they raised three daughters—Anne, Kate, and Margaret—in the historic 1890s home known as “The Boulders.” Spencer was known for his hands‑on approach to home repair and restoration, from carpentry and painting to building playhouses and fish ponds. He often took on projects himself before seeking professional help. In his forties, Spencer developed Ménière’s disease, which prompted him to wear ear protection while mowing his lawn to guard against the condition’s vestibular attacks. Despite health challenges, he remained active and engaged in his community. Spencer’s passion for historic preservation led him to found the Friends of Doubling Point Light in 1996, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and maintaining the Doubling Point Light on the Kennebec River. He served as the organization’s president for 23 years, driving fundraising and restoration efforts—including a major 1999 project that repositioned the lighthouse’s granite blocks after years of winter damage. A lifelong sailor, Spencer learned to sail on the Sasanoa in Maine and taught sailing along the East Coast during college vacations. He also had a love of music; as a tenor, he sang with the Yale Glee Club, the a cappella group Baker’s Dozen, and with his wife Joyce—a soprano—in the Blue Hill Troupe in New York City. Together they toured with the Yale Alumni Chorus on seven international trips to Asia, Africa, and South America. After retiring from pathology, Spencer and Joyce settled on Arrowsic Island, where he found time to nurture family ties, care for the lighthouse, and enjoy daily drives to visit friends. In his later years he travelled to the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick to watch a Blue Angels display, a reminder of his naval service. Three days before his death he watched the graduation of his grandson Spencer from Navy boot camp in Illinois, an event he described as “the moving graduation of his grandson.” Spencer is survived by his wife, Joyce; daughters Anne McLean Spencer (married to Todd Cheema), Katharine Erskine Doak (married to Samuel), and Margaret Erskine Rogers Kepler (married to Kolin); grandchildren Alexander and Jane Cheema, Wylie and Gavin Doak, Owen, Spencer, Wyatt, and Charlotte Kepler; and nieces Catherine L. Futter and Barbara E. Futter. He was predeceased by his sister, Margaret E. Spencer Futter. In a final message to his family, Spencer left the words, “Love is all there is.” The Spencers will hold a private gathering to celebrate his life and legacy. Funeral arrangements are handled by Daigle Funeral Home; condolences can be sent online at . The Friends of the Doubling Point Light can be contacted at P.O. Box 225, Bath, ME 04530.